Genesis 7:10-12

7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. ¹ 

7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep ²  burst open and the floodgates of the heavens ³  were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell ⁴  on the earth forty days and forty nights.

Ezra 10:9

10:9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin were gathered in Jerusalem within the three days. (It was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of that month.) All the people sat in the square at the temple of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.

Ezra 10:13

10:13 However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. ⁵  We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter.

Proverbs 28:3

28:3 A poor person ⁶  who oppresses the weak

is like ⁷  a driving rain without food. ⁸ 

Ezekiel 13:11

13:11 Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones ⁹  will fall and a violent wind will break out. ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 13:13

13:13 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury.

Amos 9:6

9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace ¹¹  in heaven

and sets its foundation supports ¹²  on the earth. ¹³ 

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name.

Matthew 7:25-27

7:25 The rain fell, the flood ¹⁴  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!” ¹⁵ 

[7:10]  ¹ tn Heb “came upon.”

[7:11]  ² tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).

[7:11]  ³ sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “was.”

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the time [is] rain showers.”

[28:3]  ⁶ tc The MT reads “a poor man,” גֶּבֶר רָשׁ (gever rash); cf. KJV, NASB, NLT. The problem is that the poor in the book of Proverbs is not an oppressor and does not have the power to be such. So commentators assume the word is incorrect. By a slight change to רָשָׁע (rasha’) the reading becomes “a wicked ruler” [Heb “a wicked mighty man”]. There is no textual support for this change. The LXX, however, reads, “A courageous man oppresses the poor with impieties.” If “a poor man” is retained, then the oppression would include betrayal – one would expect a poor man to have sympathy for others who are impoverished, but in fact that is not the case. It is a sad commentary on human nature that the truly oppressed people can also be oppressed by other poor people.

[28:3]  ⁷ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[28:3]  ⁸ sn “Food” is a metonymy of effect here. The picture is of the driving rain that should cause crops to grow so that food can be produced – but does not (some English versions assume the crops are destroyed instead, e.g., NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). The point the proverb is making is that a show of strength may not produce anything except ruin.

[13:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you, O hailstones.”

[13:11]  ¹⁰ sn A violent wind will break out. God’s judgments are frequently described in storm imagery (Pss 18:7-15; 77:17-18; 83:15; Isa 28:17; 30:30; Jer 23:19; 30:23).

[9:6]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).

[9:6]  ¹² tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.

[9:6]  ¹³ sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.

[7:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the rivers.”

[7:27]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and great was its fall.”